January 2016 core update: what Google confirmed and what to do

What Google changed#

Google said only that this was a change to its core ranking algorithm. On 12 January 2016, after a weekend of reported ranking swings, Google’s Gary Illyes replied on Twitter that “the changes you saw are part of a core algo update.” John Mueller added that “it’s not penguin,” as many site owners had assumed, because a delayed Penguin update was expected that month.

Google gave the update no name. Zineb Ait Bahajji of Google wrote in French that there was no name and that it was simply one of Google’s frequent quality updates. Google’s own description, a core algorithm update, is the name used here, with the month added to tell it apart.

Search Engine Land noted at the time that Google rarely confirmed core algorithm updates, and that Panda was by then part of the core algorithm. Google said nothing more about what the update changed.

When it rolled out#

Google stated no start or end date. Search Engine Roundtable reported early signs of an update on Friday, 8 January 2016, and bigger movement over the weekend of 9 and 10 January. The date used here is the first reported day, so it is approximate. Google confirmed the update on 12 January.

What is known about its impact#

Google published no impact figures. Industry trackers reported large ranking movements, but Google did not quantify them, so any percentage attributed to this update is a third-party estimate.

What site owners should do#

Core updates happen “several times a year,” in Google’s words, and its current guidance on them applies to this one:

• Wait until the update has finished, then compare a week after it with a week before.
• A small drop needs no drastic action; a large, sustained drop warrants a site-wide review against Google’s helpful, reliable, people-first content questions.
• Avoid quick fixes, and treat deleting content as a last resort.
• Improvements can take several months to show, sometimes not until a later core update.

How to check whether it affected you#

This is historical. Search Console keeps only 16 months of data, so January 2016 is not in it. If you kept analytics from the time, compare Google organic traffic in the week before 8 January 2016 with the week after 12 January. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists the updates around it.

Related updates#

• Panda 4.2 was the last numbered Panda refresh, in 2015.
• The May 2015 quality update was an earlier confirmed core change.
• The March 2018 core update was the next Google-confirmed core update.